Content retrieval systems allow a user to make a request for content and receive content related to the request. One example of a content retrieval system is the Internet. If the user desires to access a specific web page on the Internet, typically a user enters an address (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) into a web browser in order to receive a web page corresponding to the URL.
In some cases, the user does not desire the content of a specific web page, but is interested in searching for content. To search for content on the Internet, a user typically uses a web browser to first access a search engine, which provides the web browser with an interface to submit search criteria to the search engine. The interface displays the search results returned by the search engine. The user may desire the search to take place over the majority of the Internet. However, often the user desires the search to take place over a particular data source, such as a web site.
Thus, even when performing a search, the user often focuses on a particular data source. There are techniques, such as bookmarks, that provide a relatively quick means to access a particular website. However, users need to establish bookmarks and manage them. Oftentimes, the list of bookmarks becomes so long that it is time consuming for the user to scroll down a list of bookmarks to the desired bookmark. Moreover, typical bookmarks do not automatically initiate a search of the bookmarked website.
Improved techniques are needed for allowing users to navigate to particular data sources, such as websites. Moreover, improved techniques are needed for users to search particular data sources.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.